Bateman , Thomas , 1778-1821 , physician and dermatologist

Thomas Bateman was born in Whitby, Yorkshire, on 29 April 1778, the only son of a surgeon. He was educated at two private schools, one at Whitby the other at Thornton, before being apprenticed to an apothecary in Whitby for three years. In 1797 he began his studies in London, at the Windmill Street School of Anatomy, founded by Dr William Hunter, the celebrated anatomist. There he attended the lectures of Matthew Baillie, morbid anatomist. Simultaneously he attended the medical practice of St George's Hospital. He subsequently went to Edinburgh in 1798 to study, and obtained his MD in 1801. The subject of his thesis was Haemorrhoea Petechialis.

Bateman returned to London in 1801, with the purpose of starting in practice and completing his studies. He became a pupil of Dr Robert Willan, a pioneer in the diseases of the skin, at the Carey Street Public Dispensary. In 1804, due to Willan's influence, he was elected physician both at the Dispensary and at the Fever Institution (later the Fever Hospital). In 1805 he was admitted a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. Based on his experience at the Fever Institution, between 1804 and 1816, Bateman wrote a series of reports on the diseases of London and the state of the weather. He contributed these papers to the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, which he had jointly established in 1805 with Dr Duncan, junior, of Edinburgh, and Dr Reeve, of Norwich. The reports contributed to the establishment of his reputation, bringing him to the notice of a wider audience. The papers were later collected in one volume and published as Reports on the Diseases of London (1819).

At the Dispensary, under the tutelage of Willan, Bateman began to pay particular attention to diseases of the skin. Willan had been the first to describe these diseases in `a positive scientific manner, without being swayed by theoretical and formulistic conceptions' (DNB, vol. III, p.393), and Bateman followed in his footsteps, extending and perfecting his methodology. With Willan's retirement in 1811, Bateman became the principal authority in London on all affections of the skin. Consequently Bateman built up a large, profitable practice.

In 1813 Bateman published his Practical Synopsis of Cutaneous Diseases According to the Arrangement of Dr Willan (1813), and completed the series of watercolour drawings that Willan had begun. The publication was a great success, and was translated into French, German, and Italian. Its fame reached Russia whereupon the Czar sent Bateman a diamond ring, worth 100 guineas, and requested that copies of all Bateman's future publications be sent to him. Bateman followed up this publication with his Delineations of Cutaneous Diseases, Exhibiting the Characteristic Appearances of the Principal Genera and Species, Comprised in the Classification of Willan, and Completing the Series of Engravings Began by that Author (1817). This publication was particularly important because it contained descriptions of herpes iris (now known as erythema multiforme) and eczema due to external irritation. It also contained descriptions of molluscum contagiosum.

It is said that Bateman was a `skilful physician and excellent medical writer, whose works on skin diseases are still important' (ibid, p.394). Indeed his writings not only show his practical knowledge but also, from the references to ancient and modern writers, his learning. He wrote a number of smaller papers, in addition to the larger works, including all the entries in Abraham Rees's The Cyclopaedia; or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and Literature (1819) from the letter C onwards, with only the exception of the 'History of Medicine'. He was the first librarian of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society, assisting in the foundation of the library, and compiling its first catalogue.

In 1816 Bateman's health began to suffer, having had since childhood a delicate constitution. He lost the sight in his right eye, and the vision in his left began to be impaired. Unfortunately the use of mercury in his treatment led to an attack of mercurial erethism, which almost cost him his life. Bateman gave a description of the symptoms from which he suffered in the ninth volume of the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. He rested for several months before returning to work at the Fever Institution in April 1817, due to an outbreak of a severe epidemic of fever in London. In February 1818 however he was forced, due to unremitting ill health, to resign his appointment. The following year he was compelled to resign from the Dispensary. He retired to Yorkshire and died in Whitby, on 9 April 1821, at the age of 42.

Publications:
Practical Synopsis of Cutaneous Diseases According to the Arrangement of Dr Willan (London, 1813)
Delineations of Cutaneous Diseases, Exhibiting the Characteristic Appearances of the Principal Genera and Species, Comprised in the Classification of Willan, and Completing the Series of Engravings began by that Author (London, 1817)
`A Succinct Account of the Contagious Fever of this Country Exemplified in the Epidemic Now Prevailing in London; with Observations on the Nature and Properties of Contagion' (London, 1818)
Reports on the Diseases of London (London, 1819)

Publications by others about Bateman:
Some Account of the Life and Character of the Late Thomas Bateman, MD, FLS, Physician to the Public Dispensary and to the Fever Institution in London James Rumsey (London, 1827)